Remnant 2, the post-apocalyptic survival game developed by Gunfire Games, brings an engaging array of distinct archetypes to the fore, each with its unique skills and characteristics. The sequel presents four main archetypes — the Gunslinger, the Handler, the Challenger, and the Medic — each offering a divergent gameplay style, catering to the specific strategic preferences of players. This article delves into a detailed analysis of these archetypes, highlighting their unique abilities, perks, and roles within the treacherous world of Remnant 2.
The Gunslinger Class
The Gunslinger, as its name implies, is ideally suited to those game scenarios where firearms rule the day. As an archetype, it is tailored to players who are skilled at managing high-fire-rate weapons and excel at ammunition efficiency. Its primary role is damage infliction. The Gunslinger’s abilities are meticulously crafted to optimize Damage Per Second (DPS), enabling an unstoppable offensive with swift reloads, rapid weapon exchanges, and a constant supply of ammunition.
Among the Gunslinger’s perks, Prime Loaded stands out as the most prominent. It is designed to automatically reload both firearms once an archetype skill is initiated. This feature ensures uninterrupted action in the heat of battle as a well-executed skill activation keeps the bullets firing.
Moreover, the Gunslinger’s skills distinguish it from other archetypes. Its first skill, Quick Draw, discharges a concealed six-shooter and auto targets surrounding enemies, making it an ideal skill to capitalize on their Prime perk. The second skill, Sidewinder, significantly boosts aiming and movement speed, weapon swapping speed, and also automatically reloads weapons upon switching.
The Sidewinder skill becomes indispensable when the player’s strategy involves maintaining consistent damage while dodging incoming fire. The third skill, Bullet Storm, converts all firearms into fully automatic, escalates the fire rate, and accelerates reloading speed. This skill is the go-to when it comes to dealing burst damage.
Supplementing the Gunslinger’s arsenal is the archetype trait called Ammo Reserves, which amplifies the total ammunition capacity, relieving players from worrying about exhausting their ammo. This trait makes a valuable addition to any archetype combination.
In essence, the Gunslinger archetype is a dream come true for players seeking gameplay that heavily relies on shooting. It stands unparalleled when it comes to inundating enemies with a barrage of bullets.
The Handler Class
The Handler, along with their faithful ally, tackle formidable adversaries by relying on teamwork and camaraderie.
This duo encapsulates versatility, contributing an assortment of skills to any team. The Handler’s perks focus on providing utility. They enhance movement and revival rates, enabling smooth and swift group coordination. An additional perk ensures automatic health regeneration for the Handler when in close proximity to their companion. This healing rate can be substantially increased by displaying affection towards their companion.
Among the Handler’s range of perks, Prime Bonded stands out. It enables the companion to auto-revive the Handler using the Handler’s relic, and it can also be utilized to revive downed teammates.
The Handler archetype diverges from the norm in that it doesn’t possess traditional archetype skills. Instead, it incorporates behaviors, which modify the companion and equip them with unique passive buffs and activatable skills. The Handler employs commands to direct their companion on the battlefield, giving orders to attack, retreat, guard an ally, or trigger their special howl.
The first behavior, Guard Dog, passively prompts the companion to attract more enemy attention (aggro) and suffer reduced damage. Its howl intensifies aggro production and provides a short-term defensive boost to the entire team. The second behavior, Support Dog, offers passive healing to nearby allies. Its howl amplifies the healing effect’s potency and range.
The third behavior, Attack Dog, passively boosts the companion’s damage output. Its howl endows the entire team with a damage boost, which becomes essential for an all-out attack. Complementing the Handler’s capabilities is the archetype trait Kinship, which mitigates all friendly fire damage dealt and received, contributing to sustaining everyone in combat. It allows a more reckless approach with powerful explosives.
The Handler’s companion, unlike typical characters, is incapable of permanent death. If defeated in combat, the companion retreats until the Handler can motivate them to return to the fray. For players who value teamwork and desire a steadfast companion, the Handler archetype offers a comfortable fit. Whether playing solo or in co-op mode, it affirms the idea that collaboration paves the path to success.
The Challenger Class
The Challenger thrives in close to mid-range combat, dominating their opponents with a combination of potent damage and an imposing presence. They serve as a deterrent to anyone unwise enough to challenge them.
Their perks specialize in dealing considerable damage, utilizing heavy armor for protection, and significantly diminishing the damage inflicted by all nearby enemies. The bedrock of their bravery is the Prime Perk: Die Hard. When receiving what would normally be lethal damage, the Challenger erupts in fury, signifying to their enemy that defeat is not on today’s agenda. Following a lengthy cooldown, Die Hard grants the Challenger a reprieve to conclude the confrontation. The act of combat is the Challenger’s expertise.
The first skill, War Stomp, sends a powerful shockwave towards adversaries by striking the ground. With multiple charges at its disposal, it can effortlessly disrupt crowds of foes or stagger tough elites. The second skill, Juggernaut, transforms the Challenger into an impervious, indomitable force. It drastically reduces the damage taken, increases resilience to impacts, and bestows a boost to movement speed, melee speed, and damage.
The third skill, Rampage, molds the Challenger into a relentless killing entity. It provides immediate enhancements to fire rate, reload speed, and movement speed. As they inflict damage, they accumulate rage stats, which augment their range damage. When the maximum stats are achieved, the Challenger enters a berserk state, doubling all bonuses. The result is an unstoppable wave of destruction.
Complementing their arsenal is the archetype trait, Strongback. This reduces armor encumbrance, allowing players to don heavier armor without suffering the typical weight penalty. It’s an advantageous unlock for any build that values a blend of resilience and agility. The Challenger archetype is a suitable fit for players who relish engaging in close-quarters combat and overpowering adversaries.
The Medic Class
The Medic archetype excels in restoring health and managing relics more than any other class, performing these tasks with remarkable efficiency.
The Medic’s perks are designed with a singular purpose: to keep the team in the fight. With an uncanny ability to recover from personal injuries and an enhanced resilience to interrupts during relic use, the Medic is always prepared to lend a helping hand.
The bedrock of their healing prowess lies in the Prime Perk: Regenerator. Once the Medic has replenished a sufficient amount of health—either their own or that of their allies, including companions—they regain a relic charge. Enhancing this feature, both relic and skill healing contribute to this regeneration process. Skills provide the opportunity for users to tailor their healing style.
Their first skill, Wellspring, involves the Medic creating a healing energy source by striking the ground. While it provides efficient healing, it is constrained by its size and fixed location. The second skill, Healing Shield, forms a protective barrier around allies, continuously restoring a small amount of health while active. Ideal for shielding a critically injured ally, it also caters to a mobile group requiring healing.
Redemption, the third skill, stands as the ultimate in healing abilities. As a chargeable skill, it applies a progressively powerful heal over time, revives downed allies, and provides substantial regeneration. Redemption swiftly restores the team to fighting fitness, enabling them to shrug off damage. It truly serves as a last resort healing solution.
To round off their skill set, the archetype trait Triage boosts healing effectiveness, further affirming the Medic’s supremacy in health recovery. The Medic archetype resonates with players who take pride in maintaining their team’s health at optimal levels. Appropriate for teams of any size, the Medic offers a level of sustainability that no other archetype can match, making the challenges of the apocalypse a little less intimidating.